Platte Valley advances in sectionals

Senior Wyatt Miller releases a pitch on the mound.

By Morgan Guyer

The Platte Valley Boys Baseball Team took care of business against Gilman City on May 22 at Missouri Western, winning 5-1 in the first round of sectionals.

For the majority of the season, Platte Valley has ridden the pitching talent of Seniors Wyatt Miller and Memphis Bliley. That didn’t change against Gilman City, as the duo combined to give up just three hits on the evening, recording seven strikeouts and just the one run. Having a deep pitching bullpen has been key to Platte Valley’s success all season long, and has helped them to an 18-2 record so far and a district championship.

Platte Valley started the game slow offensively, while they were making contact on pitches, the team struggled to get runners into scoring positions. They finally ended up breaking the deadlock in the fourth inning with a run, which really helped open things up for Platte Valley. They used aggressive base-running and a few timely singles to score four more runs in the fifth to give themselves some breathing room on their way to a victory.

The Platte Valley co-op is proving to be a success in baseball just as it has in other sports. The baseball team has won three straight Class 1 District 16 Championships, now the team has eyes for an even bigger prize.

The team faced Green City May 24 in the quarterfinals at Green City, who have a record of 16-6.